When I was a child we went to Stowmarket on the bus and got off before the town centre to walk to see Grandma and then we would walk into town which meant going over a raised path, which I've always known as the Karnser. Grandma and Mum were Stowmarket born and bred so that's what they called it.
There WAS a picture below which I copied from a local 'Stowmarket In Old Photo's' Facebook page and several people commented that they'd never heard the word. Some references say that it's an East Anglian dialect word but below the report says it's much older.
The picture vanished and I couldn't find it again despite searching all the Stowmarket facebook sites - luckily I'd copied the text.......................
The raised pathway on one side of Station Road, whether it is spelled with a 'c' or a 'k', is an old word of Anglo-Saxon origin. There are other places in East Anglia with a reference to the word, such as Mellis Common in Suffolk and Blakeney in Norfolk, which refer to a raised footpath or causeway across a marshy area.
The Stowmarket spelling with a 'k' is quite unusual, but the meaning still has the same derivation of a raised footpath. In this case it was developed to allow brewers' drays to pull up beside Steven's Brewery, that later became part of the Greene King Group, so that barrels could be rolled directly onto the back of the carts without involving heavy lifting or rolling heavy casks up sloping ramps etc.
Information from Stowmarket Local History Group.
While searching for the picture that I copied here from facebook and which later vanished, I came across this one from a bit later when the brewery had been taken over by Greene King. It doesn't really show the Karnser except for the railings.
And here's what it looks like today. Back in the 60's there were breaks in the barriers with steps built into the wall to get down to road level, but they are long gone. This road is a very busy one now leading in and out to the town centre and the main carpark beside Asda.
It's a very, very long time since the building was a brewery and it's been rebuilt, stood empty or used as offices for many years.
Back Soon
Sue
Thanks for comments yesterday, I thought I'd answered but I hadn't and then it was late!
I'm sure Arundel has those raised footpaths. I suspect that's because it is built on the side of a hill. I've never heard of a word for them.
ReplyDeleteThank you another interesting post I now realise that I have seen these in other places and never queried why the paths were raised in this fashion.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why it appeared as anonymous
ReplyDeleteSo now I know why I’ve seen some of these around and about. Of course the ones along the old railway line made sense before, but now the rest will fall into place. Every days’ a school day!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a small town here along the US gulf coast The downtown area had those raised sidewalks to prevent flooding of the shops during hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteThere's one of those in Dorchester, Dorset. Years ago I worked recording listed / historic monuments etc on digital maps for the County council and it was just listed as a raised pavement. I don't know why it was raised and it would be good to know if there is a word in Dorset dialect for it. I'll see if I can find anything. Thanks for the interesting post
ReplyDeletePenny